Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Mr Watkins. Mr Kennedy was present and Mr Hills was in attendance virtually.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting on 5 October 2023 were a correct record and that they be signed by the Chair.

1.    Mr Kennedy (Deputy Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) provided an update on the work that continued to be undertaken across Adult Social Care to identify areas of savings, including but not limited to the renegotiation and renewing of contracts, along with cost sharing measures with the NHS.

Kent County Council had also celebrated Carers Rights Day on Thursday 23 November which acknowledged the incredible and selfless contribution that the county’s unpaid carers make to the health and wellbeing of others. The event also highlighted the support services available.

Kent County Council’s Public Health Team continued to promote the nationwide winter vaccine campaign which launched in September, encouraging all those who were eligible to come forward for their seasonal flu and COVID-19 vaccines. The 2023 rollout had already delivered 11.7 million flu jabs and over 8.6 million Covid vaccinations, making it the fastest NHS flu vaccine roll out on record.

Mr Watkins had recently recorded a BBC podcast on the pressures facing Adult Social Care and was joined by the BBC on a visit to a hospital-based technology facilitator service, which enabled independent living of those who were discharged from hospital. Mr Watkins had also recently presented at the All-Party Group on empowering UK health care through digital innovation.

On 10^th October, the Kent and Medway Suicide Prevention Team marked World Mental Health Day by announcing 11 projects dedicated to preventing suicide, saving lives and reducing self-harm that have secured funding to support their communities. Mr Kennedy recently had the privilege of attending the Mental Health and Wellbeing ceremony and presented a number of awards, several of which went to staff from Kent County Council.

To conclude, Kent County Council had welcomed the NHS Healthy Starts scheme, which assisted low-income parents in purchasing healthy essentials. Eligible parents would receive a heathy start card containing money which could be used to purchase heathy goods and vitamins, worth £1230 per child. The Healthy Start scheme was available to all those in receipt of benefits and at 10 weeks of pregnancy or had a child under the age of 4.

Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) provided an update on the litigation brought by Kent County Council against the Home Office in relation to the National Transfer Scheme (NTS). Kent County Council’s claim on the reasonableness and rationality of the Home Office’s approach to the NTS went to court on 10^th October 2023 and the judgement confirmed that the Home Secretary had acted unlawfully and that Kent County Council’s criticisms of the pace and urgency of the Home Secretary’s decision-making process in relation to the NTS were well founded. The judge found that the NTS and the slow-paced management of the scheme was inadequate and for large periods was unlawful. The Home Office was instructed to resolve the issues and ensure the NTS worked in a fair and sustainable manner in the future. The primary purpose of the claim brought against the Home Office was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Ben Watts (General Counsel) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Watts provided an update to Members in relation to the role of the Scrutiny Committee and Securing Kent’s Future. An initial scoping meeting was held with Members of the Committee to highlight the importance of Members’ roles in mitigating the risk of duplication or effort or resource, and as a result Members of Scrutiny would be receiving a range of information that the Cabinet were also in receipt of. A number of informal briefings had taken place, supporting Scrutiny members in understanding the challenges faced. To minimise duplication and the impact on officer time, the intention would be to deep dive into areas of focus which coincided with agenda items. On 6^th December, a deep dive into Home to School Transport (HTS) was scheduled to take place. Mr Watts noted that whilst Cabinet was required to attend for budget items, for any items specifically in relation to focus areas around Securing Kent’s Future (SFK), it would only be the Cabinet member and officer required to attend for that specific item. Scrutiny was to be managed in an efficient and proportionate way.

Zena Cooke (Corporate Director of Finance) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Oakford (Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services) introduced the report that set out the revenue and capital budget monitoring position as at September 2023-24. The latest revenue forecast outturn position for 2023-24 before further management action was an overspend of £36.0m (excluding schools). The forecast overspend represented 2.7% of the revenue budget and presented a serious and significant risk to the Council’s financial sustainability if not addressed as a matter of urgency. Within the overall outturn position there continued to be a significant forecast overspend in Adult Social Care & Health, totalling £30.4m and in Children’s, Young People and Education totalling £28.1m, before management action. Work continued to identify and implement further management action that could be taken immediately in the current year, and over the medium term and was included in the report and in the “Securing Kent’s Future” budget recovery plan.

Mr Oakford said that it was essential that the remaining management action was delivered to reduce the 2023-24 outturn to a balanced position and prevent the need for a drawdown of reserves which would further weaken the council’s financial resilience and increase the requirement to replenish reserves in succeeding years. The majority of the management actions were related to one off measures, meaning those spending reductions would not flow through to the 2024-25 budget. Furthermore, the full year recurring impact variance against the budget of 2023-24 would need to be reflected as spending requirements in the 2023-24 budget.

The initial draft revenue budget for 2024-25 and the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2024-2027 had been published and showed gaps in each one of the financial years. The gap for 2024-25 was the most significant and needed to be closed through further savings, increased outcome and future cost increase avoidance. A detailed analysis of the overspend continued to be undertaken to identify underlying causes. The council implemented spending controls across all budget managers to avoid spending for the remainder of the year wherever possible, based on specific criteria to focus on the most essential activities and priorities until the financial position was brought under control and stabilised. The outcome of the analysis, the actions and progress to date in reducing the forecast overspend was presented further within the report.

The Recovery Plan to reduce the forecast for 2023-24 and the budget gap for 2024-25 continued to be monitored weekly. If significant spending reductions were not achieved within the next reporting period and the direction of travel was not positive, then more stringent spending controls would be implemented.

2.    Mrs Cooke confirmed that weekly monitoring took place at the Corporate Management Team Meeting (CMT) where officers would discuss in detail elements of spending for review that concurred with the seriousness and action that needed to be taken.

3.    Mr Oakford advised that the report contained underspends in Member Grants, however, a majority of this money had already been committed for a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

Sarah Hammond (Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education), Carolann James (Director of Operational Integrated Children’s Services) Hema Birdi (Assistant Director Open Access and Adolescent Services) and Wendy Jeffreys (Consultant in Public Health) were in attendance for this item.  

1.    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) introduced the report that set out the implementation of the Family Hub model in Kent. The Family Hub model provided £11m of transformational funding over 3 years to bring additionality and greater integration of services, including outreach and digital offer. Through the integration of Public Health, health services and family support services, the Family Hub sites would provide a one-stop-shop for children, young people and families, with the additionality of community outreach helping to deliver this. Mrs Chandler confirmed that the digital and online offer was a complementary and additional offer and did not constitute a replacement.

Mrs Chandler advised that whilst a great proportion of services delivered were prescribed within the criteria, there was the potential for a significant element of discretionary delivery. Option 4 (as outlined in the report) set out the integrated and innovative ways in which the Family Hub model could deliver that range of support. Mrs Chandler paid tribute to all staff who had contributed to the delivery of the Family Hub programme.

2.    Mr Kennedy (Deputy Cabinet member for Adult Social Care and Public Health) confirmed that a critical aspect of the Family Hub programme, which was mandated, was the Public Health component, Start for Life. This programme was led by the Council’s Public Health team and had the potential to transform services and how they were delivered across Kent. It encompassed the first 1,001 days from conception to the age of 2 and included parent/carer support with Infant Feeding, Perinatal Mental Health (parents’ mental health during pregnancy and the first 12 months after birth) and parent/carer– infant relationships. For children agreed 5 to 19 (or 25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), there was scope for innovation through integration of services across public health, children, young people and education and the NHS. An example of this was the Umbrella model which provided an opportunity to co-locate services and integrate them thus ensuring a seamless offer covering youth provision, public health, sexual health, drug and alcohol abuse, mental health, weight management, smoking management, healthy diet and other such promotions. Further support services included help on issues such as sexual bullying, social media bullying, cyber bullying and much more. The Integrated hubs would also offer help and advice on crime and community safety, advice on gangs and serious violence or police related matters and other associated services such as information on education apprenticeship, training and volunteering. Mr Kennedy acknowledged that this may would not be a possibility from early on in its launch but hoped it would provide Members and residents with a sense of the scope and aspiration which the Council were aiming for as part of Family Hub model.

3.    RESOLVED to agree  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Sarah Hammond (Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education), Carolann James (Director of Operational Integrated Children’s Services) Hema Birdi (Assistant Director Open Access and Adolescent Services) and Wendy Jeffreys (Consultant in Public Health) were in attendance for this item. 

1.    Mrs Chandler (Cabinet Member for Integrated Children’s Services) introduced the report which set out the proposal to cease the discretionary commissioned Youth Services contracts due to expire in March 2024 and instead deliver these within the Family Hub model, which would provide youth provision for children and support for their families where it is most needed. Mrs Chandler advised that cessation of commissioned Youth Services delivering discretionary services would bring Kent in line with the national picture and was the recommended option as it addressed the current requirements of the Council’s financial recovery strategy.

2.    Further to questions and comments from Members, it was noted that:

·         There was a wide range of youth activities available and flourishing in our communities e.g., local sports clubs, faith groups, uniformed services and community-based youth work.

·         A number of proposals were put forward as part of the consultation. Those proposals were now due to be reviewed and further engagement would be had with those services across the county in view of better integrated delivery of provision.

·         In response to whether further options had been considered and the reasoning as to why these were not recommended, it was advised that the Youth Service contracts had been in place for variations of time over a number of demographics, however the needs of those receiving the service had changed since originally developed. This recommended change was not about delivering the same service, but ensuring an equality of service according to need and it was proposed to deliver this through the implementation of the Family Hub model.

3.    RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report.

Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure) and Ben Sherreard (Programme Manager Kent Communities Programme) were in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Oakford (Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Finance, Corporate and Traded Services) introduced the report setting out the Kent Communities Programme which sought to rationalise Kent County Council’s physical estate and proposed a greater mix of alternative methods of service delivery across the county, informed by a clear and data-driven understanding of service need. Mr Oakford informed members that delivery of this programme had become more important in the light of the increased financial pressures faced by the Council.

2.    Mr Sherreard outlined the rationale for the programme and presented the 5 options to Members (as detailed in the report), seeking agreement on the confirmed option.

3.    Mr Oakford responded to comments concerning the financial risks related to option 4 and confirmed that this would have a significant impact on the Council’s financial savings as the maintenance cost was over £1m. The table as set out in the report identified the savings across all proposed options with option 3 being the recommended choice. Option 3 took into consideration the feedback from the consultation on transport accessibility and ruled out the closure of two buildings, without substantial financial implications.

4.    Mr Love commented on the financial impact of the recommended option 3 in response to the Council’s revenue overspend of £36m and the recently issued S114 of Birmingham City Council as a result of the poor financial decisions made by local authority officials. It was not viable to continue to seek additional income from the Tax payer who in current times, faced financial pressures and difficulties of their own. Mr Love recognised the minor amendment that would need to be made within the Medium Term Financial Plan and the requirement to meet the savings elsewhere; however, he reiterated to Members that whilst option 3 was the most feasible option, activity in other areas of the Council would need to be deprioritised to ensure the Council could meet its savings.

5.    Mr Oakford moved and Mrs Chandler seconded that option 3 be progressed as the preferred model for implementation.

6.    RESOLVED to agree the recommendations as outlined in the report and progress with option 3.